<div dir="ltr">I'll take heat for this, but the following was my response to a discussion on pending LL/T legislation: <div><br></div><div>My colleagues diplomatically identified the flaws in this first volley<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>of landlord-tenant legislation. Nonetheless, I have a rather blunt<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>assessment regarding SB 5197, and the myriad landlord-tenant "reforms"<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>that are in the Legislative pipeline.<br><br>SB 5197 and its ilk do not address actual legal problems. SB 5197 and<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>its ilk do not address actual policy problems, especially not housing<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>affordability. SB 5197 and its ilk are purely political pieces of<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>legislation designed specifically to undermine a landlord's ability to<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>have any control over who landlords rent their property to, and how to<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>respond to the malfeasances of irresponsible or downright bad tenants.<br><br>The legislators introducing these reforms do not care about private<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>property rights, our opinions as experienced landlord/real estate<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>attorneys, or those inconvenient things called facts. This privileged<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>legislative cohort does not care about how absurd and difficult it is to<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>practice landlord-tenant law, representing actual people whose<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>livelihoods are on the line. I cannot express how frustrating it is to<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>re-educate the courts on sea changes in landlord-tenant law, while<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>expecting that my clients, citizens of Washington state, will receive<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>results consistent with the fair and impartial administration of<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>justice.<br><br>Moderation in all things, including moderation. Respectfully, I<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>encourage our lobby and friendly legislators to oppose all<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>landlord-tenant reforms in the session. Such efforts may be futile.<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>Nonetheless, the 2021 session wrought enough damage we are still trying<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>to implement. These proposed reforms are obviously political, and<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>designed to kill private landlords by "death through a thousand cuts."<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>Introducing new reforms is pure political theatre that undermines all<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>law-abiding citizens who pay their rent or mortgage, honor any sort of<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>contractual agreement, and fundamentally respect the rule of law.<br><br>I am my own boss: I can be blunt without fear of repercussion. However,<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>I know a number of colleagues share similar opinions. While I will<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>convey my opinions to my legislators through appropriate channels, I<span class="gmail-Apple-converted-space"> </span><br>appreciate you listening to my blunt assessment.</div><div><br>Respectfully,<br><br>Tom Lee<br>Attorney and Counselor at Law<br>R. Thomas Lee, PLLC<br><div><br></div><div><br></div></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, Jan 23, 2023 at 6:08 PM Kaitlyn Jackson <<a href="mailto:kaitlyn@dimensionlaw.com">kaitlyn@dimensionlaw.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-style:solid;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">Or just find rent assistance programs and deal with the issue at the source. <br><br><div dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div><div dir="ltr"><br><blockquote type="cite">On Jan 23, 2023, at 5:50 PM, Andrew Hay <<a href="mailto:andrewhay@washingtonlaw.net" target="_blank">andrewhay@washingtonlaw.net</a>> wrote:<br><br></blockquote></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr">
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<p class="MsoNormal">While there is truth to the problem of individuals fleeing the renting market, I would say the discussion is less about horrible landlords owing poor tenants than it is about social priorities. I favor residential properties being owned
and managed by individuals and families like Carmen far more than by the hedge funds and the investor class. So it is sad to see individuals abandoning the rental market because of recent changes in the law and the growth of tenant advocacy. However, I support
both the tenant advocates and the recent law changes. <u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Some ridiculous proportion of our country’s wealth goes to one percent of the population. Brookings says the wealthiest one percent owns more than the entire middle class. By Bernie’s math it is 99%. In any case, the wealth gap is ridiculous.
The wealth gap is a product of social policy – whether it be taxation, market regulation, and state and federal legislation. Little is being done to change this and the gap is growing not narrowing.
<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The Landlord tenant-relation is a microcosm of this. Landlords are invariably more wealthy than tenants.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Roughly half of rental housing in the US is owned by investment trusts or hedge funds.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Hedge funds and investment trusts make billions of dollars and pay little taxes – less than middle income people. Hedge funds are essentially a vehicle for wealth to be taken from the 99 percent and given to the one percent.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">So half the housing in the US is owned by the very vehicle that perpetuates and increases the wealth gap.
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<p class="MsoNormal">One a more narrow scale, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Seattle is $2,615.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Minimum wage is $15 an hour which creates a gross wage of $2500 a month.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The situation is not much better outside of Seattle. The benefits of living in lower rental areas are offset by the high cost of auto transit, flimsy public transportation, and the stress and time loss of commuting.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">It doesn’t stop there. Homelessness is increasing. People are homeless because they can’t afford rent, have been evicted and can no longer rent, or have life issues – addiction, mental health, etc. Our social infrastructure to support
this population has decreased proportionally over time – and the numbers of homeless everywhere are increasing.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">People recognize the fundamental inequity of this. That has led to the changes in housing legislation that slow the pace of fast, cheap evictions. This is a good thing. I wouldn’t say it will stop the wealth gap from increasing but it
treats a symptom of the wealth gap. Unfortunately treating symptoms is not a cure for the disease, but it is better than doing nothing and therefore better than maintaining the status quo.
<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">For people with one or two rentals, it is unfortunate that you have to abandon the rental market because you are better landlords than the hedge funds. But you can always move into more secure investments like the stock market. And find
comfort in the 7% to 8% annual gains in that investment vehicle. Ironically these returns are largely due now to the hedge funds and the wealth gap they perpetuate.
<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">The people really suffering from the current changes in rental realities are renters. The recent changes in the balance of power that favor renters are only the first of many steps that need to be taken to support that group.
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif">Andrew Hay<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif">Hay & Swann PLLC<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif">201 S. 34<sup>th</sup> St.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif">Tacoma, WA 98418<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif"><a href="http://www.washingtonlaw.net" target="_blank">www.washingtonlaw.net</a><u></u><u></u></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif"><a href="mailto:andrewhay@washingtonlaw.net" target="_blank">andrewhay@washingtonlaw.net</a><u></u><u></u></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif">He/him/his<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif">253.272.2400 (w)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Berlin Sans FB",sans-serif">253.377.3085 (c)<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> <a href="mailto:wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com" target="_blank">wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a> <<a href="mailto:wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com" target="_blank">wsbarp-bounces@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Carmen Rowe<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, January 19, 2023 6:29 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> WSBA Real Property Listserv <<a href="mailto:wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com" target="_blank">wsbarp@lists.wsbarppt.com</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [WSBARP] [WSBARP Digest] evictions, UD and available housing<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">I'll short-cut my response rather than try to cut & paste the digest, other than this brief excerpt:<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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"Food for thought - the unlawful detainer statute was created for a quick and efficient way to resolve the issue of possession. It's no longer quick, it's no longer efficient, and it's no longer affordable for many landlords. Some are starting to consider walking
away from unlawful detainers and just file full on ejectment cases because now they are likely faster and can resolve all issues more effectively than unlawful detainers can.<br>
KJ"</span><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif"><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">Amen, Amen, Amen ... other than it's way beyond that, as someone else noted. Not some, but many, small housing providers are considering (and many have acted upon) leaving the market altogether.
I did, and every person I personally know that had a rental property or two did. Those that had it for retirement quickly saw the potential for it to pull them down, not maintain them, and invested elsewhere.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">The latest mess just showed that the government is plenty willing to "take" private property to serve the greater good (I know it wasn't technically a "taking" as it said tenants still
liable; but the odds of a tenant that far in arrears having the means to pay it back? In I would hazard to say the very vast majority of cases, the words are just air, any judgment worth less than the paper it was printed on). Never mind the ongoing increasingly
extreme tenant-protection laws (King County leading, but where KC goes, the rest apparently eventually follows). No cause eviction was the final straw for many colleagues & friends & family I knew who had rental properties. With the solid market, they simply
sold. Which also allowed one of the few remaining options for a straight-forward end to a tenancy.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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It won't get better. What used to be a viable secondary source of income (and sometimes, critically, a resource for retirement) just isn't anymore. And there goes a significant chunk of the housing market - which contained, by the way, the landlords who were
likely the least of the problems the legislation meant to address, and the most likely to be accommodating/friendly/humane to their tenants, with whom there was a more personal connection by the nature of the person just having a few rentals. So you eliminate
a significant chunk of the housing, and another chunk gets passed to the 'mass production landlords' who are the worse offenders.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">I could not agree more with that comment that this is a horrible trend long-term for homelessness, so the purported protections will do great harm.<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">But I never seem to see any discussion on that. Only how horrible landlords are, how they "owe" it to the tenants, how they were somehow just living high on this side gig. Is there any
balance to the discussion anywhere?<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">Carmen Rowe<i><u></u><u></u></i></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:rgb(102,0,0);background-color:white">Phone: (360) 669-3576 (direct cell)</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:rgb(102,0,0)">Email:
</span><a href="mailto:Carmen@GryphonLawGroup.com" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif">Carmen@GryphonLawGroup.com</span></a><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:rgb(102,0,0)"><br>
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<b><span style="background-color:white">Olympia/Lacey and primary mailing office:</span></b></span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:rgb(102,0,0);background-color:white">1415 College Street SE, Lacey, WA 98503</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:rgb(102,0,0)">Seattle office: </span></b><span style="font-family:"Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;color:rgb(102,0,0)">2611 NE 113th St. Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98125</span><u></u><u></u></p>
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<a href="http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp</a></blockquote></div><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><p style="margin:0px;font-size:16px"><b><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:7.5pt;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(23,54,93)">TOM LEE<u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p style="margin:0px;font-size:16px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:7.5pt;font-style:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(23,54,93)">Attorney</span><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(23,54,93)"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0px;font-size:16px"><b><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:7.5pt;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(54,95,145)">R. THOMAS LEE, PLLC</span></b><b><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:7.5pt;font-style:inherit;font-weight:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,51,102)"> </span></b><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:7.5pt;font-style:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,51,102)">| Attorney and Counselor at Law | A Professional Limited Liability Company</span><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:7.5pt;font-style:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(102,102,51)"></span><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:black"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p style="margin:0px"><font color="#003366" face="Verdana, sans-serif" size="1"><span>Direct: 425-219-6736</span></font></p><p style="margin:0px;font-size:16px"><span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:7.5pt;font-style:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(0,51,102)">rtl@rtleelaw.attorney <span style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-size:inherit;font-style:inherit;line-height:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit">| website: www.rtleelaw.attorney </span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:Verdana;color:rgb(0,51,102);border:1pt none windowtext;padding:0in">This E-Mail message and any
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